This invention relates to chewing gum. More particularly it relates to chewing gum products (especially sugarless chewing gum products) with an improved rolling compound thereon, and methods of making such products.
For many years it has been known to dust products such as chewing gum with materials such as powdered sugar to improve appearance and initial taste. The dusting also is intended to prevent the chewing gum from sticking to the fingers when handled, or to the wrapper when the product is unwrapped. The material used to dust chewing gum is known as a dusting compound; or, because its primary function in gum is to make the gum more manageable during processing, including rolling, as a rolling compound.
Conventional known rolling compounds include sucrose, sorbitol, starch, calcium carbonate and talc. Sucrose is a sugar, and by definition, cannot be used in a sugarless gum. Mannitol is today the most common sugarless rolling compound, but it does not enhance initial sweetness of the chewing gum. Sorbitol can cause a burning sensation in the throat. Starch can give a dry mouth feel and can cause embrittlement of the gum by drawing water out of the gum stick. Calcium carbonate and talc likewise do not enhance taste.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,972 discloses a chewing gum composition with improved sweetness employing a xylitol rolling compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,042 discloses a blend of mannitol and sorbitol used as a rolling compound. The sorbitol is ground to a fine powder so that its particle size distribution is similar to that of the mannitol. This was found to improve the flow properties of the rolling compound. The flowability, measured as the angle of repose, was found to be equal to or better than the angle of repose of a rolling compound comprising 93% mannitol and 7% talc.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that has similar cooling properties as those found in mannitol and xylitol. Because of its low hygroscopicity, it is a good candidate for a rolling compound for sugarless gum. Its application to the surface of sugarless gum could slow down or even prevent sweating and blocking found in sugarless products.
Erythritol has been used previously in chewing gum products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,550 discloses a chewing gum made with a sweetening agent containing erythritol and a liquid sugar alcohol.
Low calorie sweetening compositions containing meso-erythritol are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,916 and No. 4,902,525, EPO Patent Publication No. 0 325 790, and Japanese Patent Publications No. 89-225458 and No. 90-104259.
Japanese Patent No. 89-51045 discloses chewing gum made with a melted mixture of meso-erythritol and sugars or sugar alcohols.
EPO Patent Publication No. 0 497 439 discloses a sweetener employing the use of spray dried erythritol.
EPO Patent Publication No. 0 511 761 discloses a sweetening composition made up of erythritol, sorbitol, and a glucose oligomer.
PCT Publication No. W093/00828 discloses a stabilized dipeptide sweetening composition which is useful in chewing gum and may contain erythritol.
Other patents and publications which discuss erythritol include U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,963 and No. 5,156,866 (erythritol in chewing gum); Japanese Patent Publications No. 92-287658 and No. 92-287659, both published Oct. 13, 1992, (sweetening compositions containing meso-erythritol); Japanese Patent Publication No. 93-137535 published Jun. 1, 1993, (free flowing sweetener containing erythritol) and European Patent Publication No. 0 530 995, published Mar. 10, 1993, (lozenge containing sweetener which is all or partly erythritol or maltitol).
EPO Patent Publication No. 0 009 325 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 81-18180 disclose a method of reducing dental caries with a sugarless chewing gum made with erythritol. Example VIII of these equivalent EPO and Japanese applications dust the example chewing gum composition with erythritol powder.
Erythritol by itself and in its commercially available form, however, has been found lacking when used as a rolling compound for commercial applications. One problem is that a rolling compound has to have certain characteristics such as flowability. A rolling compound for commercial use should have a flowability, measured by its angle of repose, of 30.degree. or less. Erythritol in its normal form was found to not be suitable in this regard. Thus it would be a great advantage if erythritol could be used as a rolling compound for chewing gum products by giving the erythritol improved flow properties.